Abu Sa?D Al-Tustar?
ABU SA?D AL-TUSTAR?
ABU SA ?D AL-TUSTAR? (d. 1048), Egyptian financier and courtier. Muslim sources refer to him as Ab? Sa?d b. Sahl al-Tustari (i.e., from Tustar (Shustar) in southwestern Persia). In Jewish sources he appears as Abraham b. Yashar. Ab? Sa?d was primarily a dealer in precious objects and jewels, while his brother Ab? Na?r Fadl (?esed in Hebrew) was a banker. Ab? Sa?d sold to the Caliph al-??hir (1021–36) a female black slave, who gave birth to the later Caliph al-Mustan?ir. When at the age of seven the boy succeeded his father, his mother exercised great influence in the affairs of state, and Ab? Sa?d was one of her advisers. He utilized his position at court to help the Jews of Egypt and Syria, then under the rule of the Fatimid caliphs. Rabbanites as well as Karaites turned to him for help. Hence, scholars disputed to which community he belonged. Ab? Sa?d was murdered in 1048 by hired assassins of ?adaka b. Y?suf al-Fal???, a Jewish convert to Islam, who had been appointed vizier on Ab? Sa?d's recommendations. Ab?Sa?d's brother Ab? Na?r, court financier and community representative, was also assassinated.
bibliography:
Mann, Egypt, 1 (1920), 73, 76ff., 108, 112, 119, 128ff.; 2 (1922), 75ff., 376ff.; Pozna?ski, in: rej, 72 (1921), 202ff.; Goitein, in: jqr, 45 (1954/55), 36–37; Fischel, Islam, 68ff.
[Eliyahu Ashtor]